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2009, 07-07 Study Session MinutesAttendance: Councilmembers Rich Munson, Mayor Dick Denenny, Deputy Mayor Rose Dempsey, Councilmember Bill Gothmann, Councilmember Gary Schimmels, Councilmember Diana Wilhite, Councilmember MINUTES STUDY SESSION MEETING SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL Spokane Valley City Hall Spokane Valley, Washington July 7, 2009 6:00 p.m. _ Staff Mike Jackson, Deputy City Manager Cary Driskell, Deputy City Attorney Ken Thompson, Finance Direct or Mike Stone, Parks & Recreation Director Kathy McClung, Community Development Dir. Scott Kuhta, Senior Planner Ozzie Knezovich, Sheriff Rick VanLeuven, Police Chief John Whitehead, HR Manager Carolbelle Branch, Public Information Officer Greg Bingaman, IT Specialist Carrie Acosta, Deputy City Clerk Mayor Munson opened the meeting at 6:00 p.m. and welcomed everyone to the study session. 1. Spokane Transit Authority Planning Corridor Studies — Carl Otterstrom, STA Director of Planning Mayor Munson introduced Carl Otterstrom, Director of STA. Mr. Otterstrom gave his presentation on Planning for a High Performance Network. He explained that in 2008 STA's ridership was the highest it has been since 1953 and although they have many riders and have grown, forecasts indicate between 100,000 to 250,000 new Spokane County residents by 2030. He said value is added to communities when citizens don't have to rely solely upon cars for transportation. He said their focus is on user experience of high performance, comprehensive, all day, two -way service that is reliable and frequent. The network is critical because people travel more than one corridor. High Capacity Transit looks at travel needs, existing land -use patterns, planned growth, and the cost of other travel alternatives. The primary factors of attraction include access, frequency, speed, and reliability. Secondary factors include comfort and safety of passengers, ease of use, and the appeal of the design and features. He said the next factors to be considered are the factors of accommodation which include affordability, seating capacity, Park -and -Ride parking stalls, and adequate waiting areas, roadway and facility space for transit vehicles. He said currently San Francisco is looking at a rapid network to improve frequency, speed and reliability on lines served by streetcars, light rail, diesel buses and trolleys. He also showed examples of "S Buses" used in Copenhagen and Portland's Frequent Service Map that uses light rail and buses. He defined the major steps in planning a network as developing the plan, developing the corridor, then plan implementation. As guiding principles in plan development, he said the network should serve the highest number of people possible to the most destinations possible; connect regions, cities and centers; improve the environment and sustainability of the transportation system; and it should be fiscally responsible and scaled appropriately to the region's current and long -term needs taking into account demands for scarce public resources. Mayor Munson said the purpose is focused on getting people from point A to point B and connecting the two destinations rather than just relieving congestion on the streets. Mr. Otterstrom agreed and said the plan should be driven by existing and long -range plans, where the density is and how to connect the areas. He then went on to describe service typology which he said classifies different patterns of transportation by identifying opportunities previously not considered and a means to moving mode Council Meeting Minutes: 7 -07 -09 Page 1 of 7 Approved by Council: 07-28-09 discussions to the appropriate phase of corridor planning. He also said speed, access and frequency are the main elements to develop the network. He said within a network there are typically different "lines" of transportation modes for different purposes. For example, green lines are slow moving and frequent, such as a street -car, that would be used in a constrained urban environment with high demand. Red lines are faster moving modes of transportation for urban corridors and may have exclusive or semi - exclusive lanes. Blue lines are higher speed, less frequent modes for commuting on major corridors. He clarified that the "average access interval" is the distance between stations, not how long a passenger is on the bus for specific trips. Blue lines are for longer distance commutes. Mayor Munson asked if there would be overlapping stops. Mr. Otterstrom said it is possible the stops would overlap; however, the lines would not be following each other in tandem but they may meet up at certain points on the route then verge apart again. He said Seattle is building their long -range system as if they were connecting Tacoma to Seattle when the reality is that most people are not taking light rail but are instead using the commuter rail. He said in defining network corridors, it is important to consider the design principles that look at mixed -use for transit on an all day system. He said we should look at different ideas to see what are best, what works well in the future, and then prioritize the corridors for use and look at funding opportunities such as grants and partnerships. He said we also need to consider what portions can be accomplished soon due to the increasing gas prices and the poor state of the economy. Councilmember Gothmann asked if consideration goes into mapping special events coming to the area or those annual events we know of that take place throughout the year, such as the County Fair. Mr. Otterstrom said events shouldn't drive the proposal; however, events should be considered as a part of the proposal and he pointed out we wouldn't want to design something that would need to be shut down during an event, such as a streetcar that runs through the middle of Hoopfest. He said the system serves the city's land -use goals and needs. He showed different examples of the various modes of transportation for the different transportation needs, emphasizing the desired outcome is to create a network so people won't need multiple cars to get around. He said this is not just for getting people to and from work, but for getting around within the communities. Councilmember Dempsey said she is very excited about this system and proposal. Deputy Mayor Denenny said he is excited with their approach of focusing on what they are trying to accomplish and how to use grants to pay for it. Councilmember Gothmann said he likes that they have gone back to the basics of defining the problem and moving forward to solve it. Councilmember Wilhite asked if they have a sense of the density to determine where people are going. Mr. Otterstrom said this is long -term plan; that they know where we can go now as a starting point and then we can look at areas to build later that we aren't able to support right now. He said incremental development is a good approach for transit and it allows us to assess and reassess later what can be implemented in stages. He said if it is done right we should find we can support it without having larger density. Councilmember Wilhite said planning is very important and she agrees we should continuously reassess the project. 2. ULTRA -Ex: Urban Long Term Research Area Exploratory Awards National Science Foundation — Kathy McClung Community Development Director McClung introduced Larry Branen from the University of Idaho. She said the University of Idaho and Washington State University have applied for a grant regarding the impacts of urbanization on water and air quality and they want Spokane Valley to be a stakeholder. She said the two -year commitment would include providing ULTRA with information we already have, occasional meeting space, possible councilmember time at public meetings and some staff time. Mr. Branen said he serves as Associate Vice President of the University of Idaho and has served on both faculties. He said this program is with the U.S. Forest Service for exploratory research in areas and ecosystems around communities and looks for ways to protect natural resources and respect the natural urbanization that occurs. He said they are asking for identification of urban areas where interface occurs and the impact that has on the natural ecosystem. He said they have put together interdisciplinary teams that include different scientists and practitioners to research communities. There are sixteen grants Council Meeting Minutes: 7 -07 -09 Page 2 of 7 Approved by Council: 07 -28 -09 nationally, giving out $300,000 each; however, if we are successful after two years, we can apply for grants that give $1,000,000 per year that is long -term funding. He said similar groups have received $1,000,000 grant funding per year for over 10 years, some more than 25 years. He said that having been at both universities, he knows they have remarkable, well- renowned scientists. He said the National Science Foundation (NSF) expects stakeholders to be involved. He said the Spokane — Coeur d'Alene area is a unique area that he thinks can be recognized for its diverse set of areas, the outstanding natural resource assets found here, and the fact that it is an area not yet totally urbanized. He said 5:00 p.m. today was the deadline for the grant proposal and that it was sent. He said that ULTRA will provide Spokane Valley with expert scientists who will conduct evaluations and provide us with information, while the City provides them input and information we have currently. They then take this input and information back to the team, analyze and re- evaluate, then provide the new information, helping the City in their decision - making. At this time he is asking Spokane Valley submit a letter of commitment. He said they will know in the fall if we get a grant. He said they are currently moving forward and asked Council what concerns they may have and what data he can have access to. He also said there will be seven workshops they would want council and staff to be involved in and that there is no direct cost to the City. The first two years of the program will focus on water because he said that seems to be the major concern to most communities and because we are directly impacted by what happens in Rathdrum Prairie, by Kootenai County Commissioner decisions relating to the aquifer, and by waste treatment facilities. They will look at the impact of other communities. Mayor Munson asked how the ULTRA study might pull into the TMDL study and the discharge permit approval. Mr. Branen said the ULTRA study would try to look at water quality, current and proposed policies; however, he said some aspects may be beyond their control due to the different governing agencies, such as EPA regulations. He said they work with people to analyze standards and determine if those standards are workable for what they're trying to do. Deputy Mayor Denenny said he'd like them to look at the impact of development of an area and what causes urbanization of that area. Mr. Branen pointed out the last paragraph on the first page of his handout regarding what ULTRA will and will not do and asked that Council read it because it is very helpful to understanding what they are doing. Mayor Munson asked if the ULTRA program will pay for staff involvement. Mr. Branen said funds are very limited and they will go to pay for graduate students; however, he added that for the first two years he doesn't see a lot of demand being placed on City staff and thinks there will be other funds available in the future. Mayor Munson said that commitment of staff involvement is not a decision of Council, but of staff recommendation. Ms. McClung said that based on what she understands of the request, she doesn't think the staff involvement is any more extensive than other requests they get from the public. She said providing information would not be a problem and they can manage to attend some meetings. Councilmember Gothmann suggested the scientists also look at urban wildfire interface and what effects that has on water because everything is interrelated and complex. Mr. Branen said it is an important piece to deal with as well and the City should point that out in the letter they draft. Councilmember Dempsey asked if there are facilities in Coeur d'Alene and Spokane they will be using as their base rather than Moscow and Pullman. Mr. Branen said they have space in the Outlet Mall in Post Falls as well as space in Coeur d'Alene, and WSU Spokane has committed to make facilities available. Councilmember Wilhite said she thinks it is an intriguing project and Spokane Valley can benefit greatly by participating. Mayor Munson asked that the results of the studies be written and presented in non - scientific language for ease of understanding. Mr. Branen agreed the findings need to be easily interpretable. Ms. McClung said she will draft a letter of commitment for the Mayor's signature if that is the desire of Council. Council consensus. 3. Jail Issues — Rick VanLeuven, Sheriff Knezovich Mayor Munson welcomed Chief VanLeuven and Sheriff Knezovich. Sheriff Knezovich said he wants to make sure Council understands they are not just looking at building a new jail but also the need to build a process that corrects the criminal justice system. He said currently inmates are running nineteen days on Council Meeting Minutes: 7 -07 -09 Page 3 of 7 Approved by Council: 07 -28 -09 average per stay and that number should be in the area of fourteen or fourteen and one -half days. Most of the population is not sentenced to a great amount of time and they need to address the issues that are putting people in jail. He said mental health issues need to be dealt with to reduce recidivism and his concern when looking at building a new jail facility is sustainability and he said they can't keep dealing with these same issues in the future. Expandability needs to be part of mix. The building costs will be paid off after the bonding period, but he said personnel costs need to continually be funded. They would either need to go after a new bond or increase the sales tax. He said in the last nine months they have reevaluated the entire system and they have asked the hard questions. November 2008 was the target date to go to bond but because of the high price tag they decided not to. In looking at November or December of 2009 he doesn't think meeting the timeline is possible. Sheriff Knezovich said that in the last twenty years Geiger has become a secondary jail in the County, and it was not designed to be a jail — it was designed to be a work - release facility. He said the ratio for the numbers of officers to inmates is a safety issue that needs to be resolved. In addition, fifteen to twenty -six percent of offenders are various gang members needing to be separated from rival gang members. He said the Airport Board has put Spokane County on notice that the lease for Geiger will not be renewed for 2013 and that the normal scenario for building a new structure is fifty -two months. He said the best -case scenario is twenty -six months but they would need an extension on the lease. In looking at the criminal justice system, the overall time to disposition indicated an average of 4.5 appearances between arraignment and disposition in Superior Court. He said early case resolution is designed to minimize that figure. Based on David Bennett's study, the inmate population is growing between forty to sixty -five beds per year depending on the length of stay. He said with regard to the inmates housed for the U.S. Marshall, ninety percent of them come from Spokane Valley and the other ten percent have a direct effect on Spokane Valley, either through drug trafficking or other crimes, so we need to have the beds to hold them. In looking at the expandability options for a new jail, he said the booking facility should be expanded because it is the area with the highest "traffic." A rural site location offers expansion by building of modules rather than towers (building out instead of up). He said they have already been able to take the operational costs down and now they are looking at lowering the construction costs. He said he thinks they need to look at the cost benefit for each option and they can either reopen the EPF (Essential Public Facilities) process to look at sites, which he thinks would either be in Medical Lake or on airport land that can be dedicated for that purpose. Councilmember Gothmann asked about the delta to open the EPF process and move forward and he said there are two decision - making factors, one being financial and the other being what will happen in the future. Sheriff Knezovich said he echoes that statement and said this project is for our grandchildren and their children. Deputy Mayor Denenny thanked the Sheriff for his effort in getting into the community and for his willingness to get the word out using the media. Mayor Munson said that it can become difficult to keep momentum going or to make a change in direction once momentum has already been built up and he thanked Sheriff Knezovich for stepping back and reevaluating the project. Deputy City Manager Jackson asked about the Sheriffs comment regarding the jail being a "mental health provider" and asked if a community center would be suited to handle those cases. Sheriff Knezovich said he thinks the state dropped the ball and that instead of bringing people to jail, folks would be taken to a secured mental health facility to try to get the situation calmed down rather than going through the jail system. He said as a society we need to work differently in our thought process because we end up paying a lot to have the jail system deal with the problem rather than a mental health facility or various outreach programs more suited to deal with these kinds of situations. He went on to say that as soon as someone gets arrested, if they were on an assistance program and receiving medication that medication ends with their release. He said he thinks they should have the ability to maintain medications upon release. Mr. Jackson asked if we could save operational costs by going to direct rather than indirect supervision. Sheriff Knezovich said direct supervision is a form of inmate control and behavior modification ability. He said with direct supervision there is more contact with an Council Meeting Minutes: 7 -07 -09 Page 4 of 7 Approved by Council: 07 -28 -09 inmate and there is a reward system for good behavior; with indirect supervision there is Tess contact between the inmate and the deputy and the system gives the inmate the ability to be on the floor but allows them to be locked in cells during the night rather than on the floor, requiring more man power which he said is the only difference. He said it has no direct effect on recidivism, it is just a different thought process on inmate management and as a community he said we can not afford a "direct supervision" jail and we need to be realistic when building these projects. Deputy City Attorney Driskell asked if the number given for jail population, around 455, includes federal inmates. Sheriff Knezovich said currently the jail can only provide eighty beds to federal inmates, but as the population fluctuates we add that space back for federal inmates to take pressure off the U.S. Marshall and federal inmate housing. He stressed again that the inmates are all Spokane County inmates whether in federal or U.S. Marshall beds. Mr. Driskell clarified that the number of 455 beds for total population includes eighty federally housed beds. Sheriff Knezovich said that summer is generally the highest inmate population time but steps and programs that have been implemented are reducing those numbers. Mayor Munson said that this is not just about the jail but the entire criminal justice system. Sheriff Knezovich said he thinks their philosophies will pay off, that it is a team effort that involves the community and a willingness to change. Mayor Munson thanked the sheriff for his time and said he looks forward to an update in a few months. Chief VanLeuven said that all members of the department are concerned about jail issues and they're concerned with handling the criminal justice problems rather than continuing to jail people several times before they make it through the court system. Mayor Munson called for a break at 7:55 p. m. The meeting reconvened at 8:05 p. m. 4. Site Selector Agreement — Scott Kuhta, Ian Von Essen Scott introduced Ian Von Essen who would like to get direction from Council on the regional site selector program. As background, he said the site selector is an educational tool used by community real estate brokers and it is directed by a consortium of members such as Spokane County, the City of Spokane, Liberty Lake, and Avista. He said the site gives brokers a central place to locate businesses and properties for sale and they are able to generate demographic reports, census information, and businesses competing for the same site. Mr. Kuhta said that Spokane Valley joined the consortium in 2007 in the middle of an agreement that was already established. Council authorized $20,000 in 2008 and allocated $16,500 for 2009; however, he said last year for budgetary reasons it was decided that the consortium would present a request for funds as part of the outside agency request process. Mr. Kuhta said the problem is that it should not be treated as an outside agency because Spokane Valley participates on the consortium, allowing the jurisdictions' contributions to be based on a prorated amount based on their population so asking for funding is counter to the agreement. He said he is asking Council for direction as to whether they want to remain on the consortium or have the request for funds presented as an outside agency. He said if Council wants them to present their request for funds as an outside agency, Spokane Valley would need to pull out of the consortium. If Spokane Valley wants to remain on the consortium, they need to commit to the agreement and then it is up to Council to make sure the funds are in the budget as committed and funding is not there, they would pull out of consortium at that time. Mr. Von Essen said the site also leverages the GIS system so people can see zoning information, shoreline and other critical areas so when they are making investment decisions about properties they can see what areas they may want to stay away from. He said they want to make the program as inexpensive as possible and this year they are cutting the cost to approximately $12,000, but once the commitment is made they would expect the City to pay the prorated amount based on the population of Spokane Valley. Councilmember Wilhite said she had hoped part of the funding to keep the system going would come from private businesses rather than just cities and asked how successful they have been with that aspect. Mr. Von Essen said that due to the economy in the last year funding has been challenging on that front but they have spent time courting other cities such as Post Falls, Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County, but it is a slow process. Mayor Munson said recently we passed the Sprague /Appleway Revitalization Plan (SARP) and asked if that will be incorporated on their site. Mr. Kuhta said it can be added as a layer and said another benefit of Council Meeting Minutes: 7 -07 -09 Page 5 of 7 Approved by Council: 07 -28 -09 being a member on the consortium is that we would have input as to what is included on the website. Mayor Munson said for the money paid into the program he would like to be able to have people shop with the information contained in the SARP. He then asked Mr. Von Essen to explain LIFT. Mr. Von Essen said LIFT is targeted toward giving information to low - income people, such as transportation, jobs, and housing in low income areas to close the circle geographically. He said it can also show child -care locations and the Department of Human Services has linked in to allow folks to get back into the work force by being able to look at the various means of transportation and childcare options. He said there are about twenty -five different layers on the site selector geared toward business locations but they could also link to other sites for sources of other information. Mayor Munson asked how many businesses have moved to Spokane Valley from using this site. Mr. Von Essen answered that there were 1,500 total sessions from April to June, but they are unable to determine which businesses have used the site to move to Spokane Valley. Mayor Munson said as an educational tool it would be nice to determine if it is actually working. Mr. Von Essen said the site selector is more like Consumer Reports in that it is highly informational for folks interested in an area to gather information before physically shopping the area. Councilmember Gothmann said he believes the option of being on the consortium is most desirable. Deputy Mayor Denenny agreed. Mayor Munson asked if it is the consensus of council to continue to fund the site selector as a member of the consortium. Deputy City Manager Jackson said the question for tonight is if Council would like the Regional Site Selector program to present a request for funding as an outside agency. It was the consensus of Council to continue participation as a Regional Site Selector Consortium member and not require a presentation for a request for funding as an outside agency. Mr. Kuhta said he will draft the agreement for Council approval. 5. Council Vacancy Procedure — Mayor Munson Mayor Munson asked staff if we need an ordinance or a motion for the procedure to fill the vacancy. Deputy City Manager Jackson said we do not need an ordinance, we just need to outline an agreement. Deputy Attorney Driskell recommended we do this by motion. The deadline for application submission is 4:00 p.m. on July 17. Depending on the number of candidates, Council would meet in Executive Session on July 21st to decide on which applicants to interview. Mayor Munson asked Council if they want to determine a minimum number of applicants to interview without having to go to Executive Session. For example, if we receive five applications or less Council would interview all of the candidates. It was the consensus of Council that if we receive seven applications, all candidates would be interviewed and there would be no need for Executive Session on July 21st. In this scenario, interviews of the candidates would be held on July 21st with selection at the July 28th meeting. If we receive more than seven applications, we revert to the original schedule. The vote will take place during the public meeting. Mayor Munson explained that there will be an Executive Session on the night of the candidate selection to discuss the interviews, then they will come out of Executive Session to nominate a candidate. The nomination needs a second. Councilmember Gothmann asked if they will be provided a set list of questions. Deputy Mayor Denenny asked if Council should send their proposed questions to legal for review and said he wants an opportunity to compile questions. Deputy City Manager Jackson said hopefully Council can give staff their questions, ranking their top questions, by tomorrow for next week's agenda. He then suggested Council decide the order of interviews. Consensus to interview candidates alphabetically by last name, A- Z. Mayor Munson asked if candidates would be given the questions before the interview. Councilmember Gothmann said he thought that was fair. Mayor Munson asked if Council would agree that he would approve the questions after they were all compiled, sent out, and they had a chance for comments. Council consensus. It was also the consensus of Council that the nominations require a second and that the vote require a majority rather than a plurality. In the situation of a tie, a second vote would take place. If there is still a tie, there would be a coin toss. Deputy Attorney Driskell clarified the process: Nomination and second of candidates, followed by a voice or hand vote that requires a majority, such as four of the six councilmembers. If there is no majority, they go to the top three candidates. If there is if no majority go to the top two, if still no majority, after two tie votes they will flip a coin. He said Council should pre- determine who will flip the coin, who will be "heads" and who will be "tails." It was the Council Meeting Minutes: 7 -07 -09 Page 6 of 7 Approved by Council: 07 -28 -09 consensus of Council that the person closest to "A" alphabetically will be "heads," lower in the alphabet will be "tails." After the coin toss there will be another vote to affirm the appointment. Mr. Driskell will provide the process in writing to adopt by motion at the Council meeting next week. The new member will be sworn in the night of the appointing vote. 6. Advance Agenda — Mayor Munson: none 7. Council External Committee Reports — Councilmembers Mayor Munson provided the minutes from the Transportation Executive Team meeting. He said he wrote and sent Senator Brown a white paper suggesting changes to the Transportation Act. Spokane believes we should initiate but he said the funding is not sustainable. He said Spokane has a $3 -4 million deficit and needs Transportation Benefit District (TBD) funding. Councilmember Gothmann said he doesn't want to saddle Spokane Valley citizens with a tax that doesn't answer the questions the citizens have. Mayor Munson said Senator Brown said she will have legislative changes for review in August and used his white paper to develop changes. Mayor Munson moved, seconded, and unanimously agreed to extend the meeting to 9:15 p.m. Councilmember Wilhite said her understanding is that they want to increase the size of the committee and add others to reflect the jurisdictions involved. She said SRTC was not as diligent in their future planning as they could have been and she thinks they could have more people on the committee but she doesn't like direction the committee is looking to go, such as having an Executive Director. Mayor Munson said they are looking at ways to manage local projects. Deputy Mayor Denenny said his perception is that the board is not provided with the information until the time of the vote. He said information should be provided ahead of time rather than providing the information at the meeting. Councilmember Wilhite said she has talked with them to get the information sooner so everyone can digest it and take it back to their respective councils. She said it has been a slow process but they are working their way toward that end. She also wants to make sure they get the right mix of people on the committee, but that control is still maintained by the local elected. Mayor Munson said Senator Brown said they need to develop a process; he is asking for support and thinks each city needs to have a vision before driving transportation. Council consensus. 8. Information Only: The Easement for Private Sewer Lines was for information only and was not reported or discussed 9. Council Check -in — Mayor Munson: none 10. City Manager Comments — Mike Jackson: none There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p. Gle AIILA(L# 'ichardM •_.',Ma ATTE� ristine Bainbridge, City Clerk Council Meeting Minutes: 7 -07 -09 Approved by Council: 07 -28 -09 Page 7 of 7 r NEXT MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR JULY 28, 9:00 — 10:30 A.M., MEETING LOCATION CITY OF SPOKANE, MAYOR CONFEENCE ROOM, 7 FLOOR Attendees: Senator Lisa Brown, Senator 3 District Colleen Kerr, Senator Brown Kimm Hill, Senator Brown Mayor Rich Munson, City of Spokane Valley Mayor Wendy Van Orman, City of Liberty Lake Chair Betsy Cowles, Greater Spokane Inc. Board Mayor Mary Verner, City of Spokane Sheila Collins, City of Spokane Latisha Hill, Washington Transportation Commission Keith Metcalf, Washington State Transportation Commission By Phone: Margaret Shepherd Facilitator: Judy Cole Transportation Executive Team Minutes June 29, 2009 Hosted by City of Spokane, Mayor's Conference Room 8:30 — 10:00 a.m. Meeting Outcomes TBD Legislative Changes • Using the Executive Team's brief as a guideline, Senator Brown will draft TBD revisions for review at the next Executive Team meeting scheduled for July 28. M & 0 Funding • The establishment of a Transportation Benefit District (TBD) will remain a priority discussion until resolved. The sub - committee lead by Mayor Verner will focus on equitable formula for allocation of funds upon implementation of a County -wide TBD. Any ideas from the Executive Team are to be forwarded to Sheila Collins. Local Match Requirements • Because each regionally significant transportation project is unique in its financial and transportation impact, the determination for a local match will be considered project by project through the legislative process. Street Impact Fees • For clarity, Betsy Cowles communicated to Mayor Verner that the business community's concerns for the Street Impact Fee was more for the scale of the fee not the concept. Spokane Regional Transportation Priority Project List • Due to the commitment made in 2008 to start work in the second quarter of 2009 to establish the Spokane Regional Transportation Priority Project list for the 2010 legislative session, Judy has placed a call into Glenn for a status report. T SRTC Board • A subcommittee of the SRTC Board is evaluating governance models based on input from the big tent and Executive Team meetings and best practices research. Members of the group include Commissioner Hill, Commissioner Mielke, Mayor Van Orman, Councilwoman Diana Wilhite and Keith Metcalf. Changes currently under consideration are board /staff composition, budget/member fees and work scope. Community Transportation Visioning • At the direction of the Executive Committee, a community group co- chaired by Glenn Miles and Rich Hadley has met to develop the process and budget for a Spokane County -wide transportation visioning process. The anticipated year -long visioning process will include an evaluation of existing projects and a public outreach process to establish a sustainable, comprehensive, widely supported vision. The group expects to hire a consultant with expertise in community transportation visioning and will require staffing. Staff Support • The Executive Team requested another ask of the SRTC to fund staff support for all the numerous transportation efforts. Latisha agreed to carry that request back to Glenn Miles and the SRTC Board. Next Big Tent Meeting • Rich Hadley has set the date of August 25 for the next big tent meeting for transportation. The purpose of that meeting will be for the Executive Team to report out its progress and next steps. The proposed agenda will include. o Proposed TBD legislative changes o Proposed TBD allocation formulas o SRTC governance o Transportation Visioning process report out o 2010 Transportation Priority List update In addition, one- page briefs will be prepared and distributed at the Aug 25 meeting. Latisha will coordinate the preparation of the documents for SRTC organization and transportation visioning. Mayor Verner will coordinate the one pager on the TBD formation. Margaret Shepherd will have a separate document to outline proposed TBD legislative changes. If possible, a Transportation Priority List will also be provided (pending discussion with Glenn Miles). Next Meeting, July 28. The purpose of the next meeting will be to review materials and finalize the agenda for the August 25 big tent meeting. By Phone: Margaret Shepherd Facilitator: Judy Cole Transportation Executive Team Minutes June 29, 2009 Hosted by City of Spokane, Mayor's Conference Room 8:30 — 10:00 a.m. NEXT MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR JULY 28, 9:00 — 10:30 A.M., MEETING LOCATION CITY OF SPOKANE, MAYOR CONFERENCE ROOM, 7 FLOOR Attendees: Senator Lisa Brown, Senator 3 District Colleen Kerr, Senator Brown Kimm Hill, Senator Brown Mayor Rich Munson, City of Spokane Valley Mayor Wendy Van Orman, City of Liberty Lake Chair Betsy Cowles, Greater Spokane Inc. Board Mayor Mary Verner, City of Spokane Sheila Collins, City of Spokane Latisha Hill, Washington Transportation Commission Keith Metcalf, Washington State Transportation Commission Meeting Outcomes TBD Legislative Changes • Using the Executive Team's brief as a guideline, Senator Brown will draft TBD revisions for review at the next Executive Team meeting scheduled for July 28. M & 0 Funding • The establishment of a Transportation Benefit District (TBD) will remain a priority discussion until resolved. The sub - committee lead by Mayor Verner will focus on equitable formula for allocation of funds upon implementation of a County -wide TBD. Any ideas from the Executive Team are to be forwarded to Sheila Collins. Local Match Requirements • Because each regionally significant transportation project is unique in its financial and transportation impact, the determination for a local match will be considered project by project through the legislative process. Street Impact Fees • For clarity, Betsy Cowles communicated to Mayor Verner that the business community's concerns for the Street Impact Fee was more for the scale of the fee not the concept. Spokane Regional Transportation Priority Project List • Due to the commitment made in 2008 to start work in the second quarter of 2009 to establish the Spokane Regional Transportation Priority Project list for the 2010 legislative session, Judy has placed a call into Glenn for a status report. SRTC Board • A subcommittee of the SRTC Board is evaluating governance models based on input from the big tent and Executive Team meetings and best practices research. Members of the group include Commissioner Hill, Commissioner Mielke, Mayor Van Orman, Councilwoman Diana Wilhite and Keith Metcalf. Changes currently under consideration are board/staff composition, budget/member fees and work scope. Community Transportation Visioning • At the direction of the Executive Committee, a community group co- chaired by Glenn Miles and Rich Hadley has met to develop the process and budget for a Spokane County -wide transportation visioning process. The anticipated year -long visioning process will include an evaluation of existing projects and a public outreach process to establish a sustainable, comprehensive, widely supported vision. The group expects to hire a consultant with expertise in community transportation visioning and will require staffing. Staff Support • The Executive Team requested another ask of the SRTC to fund staff support for all the numerous transportation efforts. Latisha agreed to carry that request back to Glenn Miles and the SRTC Board. Next Big Tent Meeting • Rich Hadley has set the date of August 25 for the next big tent meeting for transportation. The purpose of that meeting will be for the Executive Team to report out its progress and next steps. The proposed agenda will include. o Proposed TBD legislative changes o Proposed TBD allocation formulas o SRTC governance o Transportation Visioning process report out o 2010 Transportation Priority List update In addition, one- page briefs will be prepared and distributed at the Aug 25 meeting. Latisha will coordinate the preparation of the documents for SRTC organization and transportation visioning. Mayor Verner will coordinate the one pager on the TBD formation. Margaret Shepherd will have a separate document to outline proposed TBD legislative changes. If possible, a Transportation Priority List will also be provided (pending discussion with Glenn Miles). Next Meeting, July 28. The purpose of the next meeting will be to review materials and finalize the agenda for the August 25 big tent meeting. Un U 8nderstaDl^ urbanization throu For the first time in history the majority of the human popu- |adonnmwlhesindties. MDst of the future increase in populatiori will also occur in cities, which as earty as 2030, will contain 00Y& of the wortd's population. Cities are where most of the earth's resources are consurned. Land use change required to produce and deUver goods and services to cities drives other types of environrnentai change that extend far beyond the incorporated boundaries of an urban area. The emerging fietd of urban ecoogy has demonstrated that urbanization includes complex and extensive interactions among social and natural systems. Thus it is not surprisirtg that integrated studies of the coupled relationships between human and natural systems have revealed processes that cannot be understood frorn the study of social or natural systems separately. Understanding these reciprocal relation- ships vvithaneyetmwardinformingpoRcymakersvvhoguide urbanization is critically important if we are to find new solu- tions for sustainability. This understanding is especially relevant to areas atthe incipient stages of urbanization, such as the Spokane — Coeur d'Alene corridor, Proposed ULTRA re- search program. The University of Idaho and Washington State Uni- versity are forrning an interdisciplinary re- search partnership to develop a long-term human-environment study of the urbanizing environment centered on thespokane— coeur d'Alene corridor. Known as the Urban Long Term Research Area exploratory (ULTRA-ex) progr m.teamswU|co||abormeonthedeve|op' mentofamvo'year, $300,000 grant to be submitted to the National Science Foundation by eariy Juy 2009. Results from exploratory awards may iead to competition for Iong-term funding at six-year intervals. The ULTRA program 15 intended to form the core infrastructure for leveraging additional funding and development ofmultiple research programs fo- cused on understanding social and natural processes underly- ing urbanization and urban phenomena. Accordingly, we will use ULTRA to forge a unique university-community rela- tionship that will provide benefits to the region for decades to come. ULTRA will provide targeted socia science research Aerial view o downtown Spokane.. ��cx /��uuuqmTONSxA^E UNIVERSITY h ���y� °_t���K�� study of the Inland Empire '' - � r ^ and outreach informed by an understanding of environ- mental conditions and processes from the natural sciences. Directed research and outre chthroughULTFA. We believe that our best understanding of the growth of the Spo- kane — Coeur d'Alene region will be derived from research focused on its unique attributes. Past strategies to address growth issues have been developed through ocaI po1itica consensus advised by Iocal planning bodies, often taking a decade or more to implement. Clearly, a more rapid, more fuy inforrned growth model is needed ifthe communities of the Inland Empire are to move toward a more sustainable model of urbanization. Our methodology will be to use infor- mat|on provided by stakeholders as the basis for designing models and research questions, which will be refined as we acquire additional input from stakeholders. Such stakeholder -driven research, known as cooperative systems modeling or mediated modeling, is a new and exciting approach to under- standing complex sys- tems. Accordingly, the research from ULTRA is intended to provide locally informed, sci- ence-based informa- tion for use in guiding stakeholderdeciyions- Notobiy,becauseofim relatively low urban population, the Spo- kane—Coeurd'A|ene region retains manage- ment options that have been foreclosed in ar ger ger urban areas. We intend for the interdis- ciplinary research partnership of the University of Idaho and Washington State Univer hvtudimcdvprovdemakeho|ders unprecedented access to information, arid thus allow them to more skiflfully devetop these rnanagement options. What ULTRA will do and not do. Nationwide, local gov- ernments and stakeholders are struggling to develop best practices for efflcient and health-prornoting community de- sign inc|udingoptima|usesofnaturo|,industda resources, layered transportation modes, and advanced effi- cient building technologies. The significant research capacity provided by ULTRA will provide timely and relevant informa- tion aimed at these issues. However, ULTRA will not be a means of directing or deciding poticy. Development of policy is the strict purview of stakeholders and their elected repre- sentatives, involving the interaction of multiple jurisdictions. The ULTRA program for the Inland Empire will be apolitical and focus its efforts exclusively on producing directed re- search relevant to local and regional issues. Teams affiliated with ULTRA will likely research the process by which policy emerges. As such, ULTRA will provide an understanding of how alternative policy, legal and institutional frameworks may affect future outcomes for the economic, social, and natural resources of the region. Accordingly, ULTRA can be best understood as a source of expert knowledge that would otherwise be unavailable or very expensive to obtain through the private sector. How to participate with ULTRA. The ULTRA manage- ment team is seeking contact with stakeholders from the regional economic area determined by a 50 -mile radius from Spokane and Coeur d'Alene. This includes primarily Kootenai and Spokane counties, and parts of the counties of Bonner, Shoshone, Benewah, Whitman, and Pend Oreille. We are especially interested in developing working relationships with the sovereign native peoples of the region and local institu- tions of higher education, as well as with representatives of incorporated municipalities. Over the next few weeks, we will be making contact with as many stakeholders as possible as we develop the exploratory grant for submission in early July. Our goal for this initial contact is to explain the ULTRA program, solicit collaboration, and learn as much as we can about the needs of stakeholders. If you have an interest in working with us as we design this research program, please visit < http: / /www.cereo.wsu.edu /ultra.html> and provide your organization contact information and a brief synopsis of your organization's role as a regional stakeholder. Alterna- tively, please contact: Jim Gosz University of Idaho 208.885.7953 jgosz @uidaho.edu R. Dave Evans Washington State University 509.335.7466 rdevans @wsu.edu Transportation projects include construction of a rail line tunnel to pass under the new freeway in north Spokane. Examples of variables and long - term research themes: • Stakeholder driven scenarios for optimal growth of the Spokane -Coeur d'Alene region • Optimal design of communities and neighborhoods • Role of First Nations' treaty obligations and contracts as mediators of growth • Role of transportation corridors as mediators of growth • Projections for the role of amenities and quality of life issues as drivers of growth • Assessment and projection of water quality and quantity over the coming decades Lake and stream management plans as integral parts of regional economy • Assessment and projection of air quality over the coming decades • Analysis of existing projections of energy use for differ- ent growth scenarios • Tribal quality of life and community health • Long term impacts of climate change on the regional ecology and economy • Greenhouse gas inventory and assessment in the context of coming regulation • Importance of urban and exurban forests and forestry for regional economy